Returning Player-Templates way obsolete.

I've been back a few days, and I hadn't played since shortly after publish 16 (when they put in champ spawns/power scrolls). SO many things have changed, and there's a lot of new skills. Both of my main characters seem to be pretty lacking right now.

I had around 700k in the bank and I dropped a new house, so I have about 400k left. If you guys have item advice I'd prefer to try to get it myself (so if you guys have suggestions regarding that tell me where to go).

Skills I've gotten since I moved those points off:
100 focus
80 inscription

This was the standard template basically most people used 97-2002, but it doesn't seem to be very good anymore. It took me about a day to find out that protection (as opposed to wrestling) is what stops interrupts, but that seems to really gimp you even more. IIRC smallish spells never used to inturrupt casting, so I can barely cast anything because I'm constantly getting interrupted. Resist was massively changed to only do non direct damage spells.

I had a vet reward left, so I took a soulstone and soulstoned swords/tactics/wrestle off of him onto a new samurai I made. I went and did the spellweaving quest, but I'm not so sure SW is going to be a good skill since it's reliant on those stones, and there's really not enough people around to get them. I've also started working on inscription, since that now gives a bonus to DD spells (and you can craft spellbooks with stats from what I gather?).

Now I was thinking taking music/peace, and then doing this like peace drop EVs, and then use spells on the mobs. Is this a viable tactic?
I'm not opposed to taking the new magic skills either, but I really have no idea how to use them or how they work. From looking at necro, it looks like wither is the main damage spell?
Not really sure about SW or mystic, all 3 look like they're most useful when augmenting a combat skill (with the weapon enchants and whatnot).
I have a 100 lower reg cost leather suit someoneone gave me, so working up the other casting skills shouldn't be too bad.

I'm in Felluca mostly, and it doesn't bother me. Dungeons seem to have WAY less spawn then in trammel making it much more manageable (for me at least). I had a champ spawn to myself the other day and I got it up to the 2nd tier, I managed to get 2 artifacts and 2 of the transcendance scrolls (I was after power scrolls for my characters though).

I messed around with him a little bit, and he still seems to do much better then my mage for pve (and he was a pvp char). Granted I was fighting liches and LLs in deciet with a silver (I guess undead slayer now) weapon.
I figured I have a little bit of wiggle room with him because resist/magery don't seem necessary since I'm not in a pvp guild anymore (and quite honestly resist seems to have lost a lot of it's usefulness compared to the past). I was thinking focus would definitely be a big help for the stam regen, which is the one thing that really slow me down the most. Again any suggestions are appreciated (although if I drop magery I was thinking I'd need to take some chiv for a way to travel)

I also have a GM smith/miner. Exceptional stuff used to be the standard gear ( but this was before item insurance and whatnot) and, and runic weapons were brand new and very good. From reading runics now give item mods instead of flat damage increases?

I've been back a few days, and I hadn't played since shortly after publish 16 (when they put in champ spawns/power scrolls). SO many things have changed, and there's a lot of new skills. Both of my main characters seem to be pretty lacking right now.

I had around 700k in the bank and I dropped a new house, so I have about 400k left. If you guys have item advice I'd prefer to try to get it myself (so if you guys have suggestions regarding that tell me where to go).

I would add chivalry to this character and remove magery. Chivalry aids melee damage and gives you a heal, a recall, a cure, and a remove curse. If you find/buy/or let someone help you, you can use weapons with leech properties which will get your mana/life/stam back. Bare minimum, I would drop/stone magery and healing. LJ isn't really needed but if you are using axe weapons it does help. You can also use it to help earn money chopping wood and selling boards and the LJ things like bark, switch, etc that also are pulled when using LJ. You can also easily turn him into a sampire which right now is one of the best solo templates. You can start out in revamped shame and get some real nice pieces from the earth els and mud pies. They may be cursed and brittle but will help you get suited up to take on bigger things and make more money.

I messed around with him a little bit, and he still seems to do much better then my mage for pve (and he was a pvp char). Granted I was fighting liches and LLs in deciet with a silver (I guess undead slayer now) weapon.
I figured I have a little bit of wiggle room with him because resist/magery don't seem necessary since I'm not in a pvp guild anymore (and quite honestly resist seems to have lost a lot of it's usefulness compared to the past). I was thinking focus would definitely be a big help for the stam regen, which is the one thing that really slow me down the most. Again any suggestions are appreciated (although if I drop magery I was thinking I'd need to take some chiv for a way to travel)

I also have a GM smith/miner. Exceptional stuff used to be the standard gear ( but this was before item insurance and whatnot) and, and runic weapons were brand new and very good. From reading runics now give item mods instead of flat damage increases?

Edit:
all chars have 720 skillcap, and 230 stat cap.

Click to expand...

I have a lot of information to share but it is easier to do it via ICQ. I also play on Chessy and would love to help you get set up and feel viable again. ICQ me 126-630-075

Stratics Veteran

I'm probably not the best to give you an advice, but still some things I know for sure :

the 10% SDI (spell damage increase) you will get for GM inscription is not worth the 100 skill points.
Inscription is a great skill to have on a stone, put it on your mage to craft books, scrolls, scrollbinders (a little red scroll that allows you to combine lower PS into more powerful ones. For example with some 105 you'll do one 110, same with 110 to 115 and 115 to 120, don't remember how many of each though) and so on. Not to use in a fight.
Using imbuing you (or someone else until you raise that skill if interested) can easily add 10% SDI on your suit, and 100 skill points in another skill like spellweaving or mysticism or even a barding skill if you want a mixed template would be much more useful.

Imbuing, a crafting like skill that doesn't depend on any other crafting ability (can be used on any char you want if your crafter is already full, but useless to fight with, same as inscribe). It alows you to ad properties, skill points and resists on your armor/weap/shield.
Very ingredient consuming so you'll need to farm a lot of stuff to craft what you want, but in the meantime you can raise this skill without crafting anything (thus using any resource/ingredient) just by unraveling items you loot on bodies and that have some special properties.
I'm 94 imbuing doing just that, of course it's slower than training the skill by imbuing stuff, but it's way easier on a returning account with little gold/resources.
In tram shame (don't know about fell one) there is a new item system that gives a lot of stuff with great property level if quite useless (cursed stuff, that can't be repaired, with -100 luck or the 3 at the same time), it's perfect to unravel to raise imbuing at high level (85 +)

On your swordsman, lumberjacking is useless, it's like scribe for magery the Damage Increase you get with it isn't worth the 100 skill points.
Magery without eval int is useless to fight and there is chivalry that has healing/cure/remove curse/resurection and traveling (like recall no gate) that is warrior oriented and doesn't use regs or need a spell channeling weapon.

As you said Focus is a nice addition for mana regen (less than med) and stamina regen that doesn't require medable armor.
Also resisting spells can be useful in some very specific situations, like doom gauntlet but is better of stoned and used only then.

Most skills, primary ones at least are only really useful at 120, 115 at least. You are right to look at some powerscrolls.

And I'll let other more experienced people give you more specific advice.

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